Exposure: Ghost Photographer

The switchboard at the paper stopped ringing months ago. One more dull issue and the magazine folds. So you take the night boat out past the lighthouse with a camera around your neck and one roll of film - and you come back with a cover, or you don't come back employed. WHAT YOU DO The boat runs its own course down the channel. You look around, you aim, you shoot. Hold the shutter to charge focus, and let go too early and the photo comes back a smudge. Zoom in to fill the frame. Every frame you burn is one you don't get back. WHAT IS OUT THERE Ten paranormal phenomena work the water between dusk and dawn, and none of them wait for you. A siren on the rocks. A skeleton sailor close enough to count his teeth. The ghost ship, lit for one second by lightning and gone. Something enormous on the horizon that the fog only half admits to. An eye that opens on the moon. BACK AT THE OFFICE At dawn you pick your best photos and the editor decides what they are worth. Framing, sharpness, how rare the thing was, and whether you brought back variety instead of ten pictures of the same fog. Hit the quota and the magazine survives another week. Miss it and you get to hear about it. FEATURES - An on-rails night voyage: you steer the lens, not the boat - A real camera loop - hold-to-focus, zoom, and a film roll that runs out - Ten paranormal phenomena: a siren, a ghost ship, a skeleton sailor, a leviathan, a UFO - Photos scored on framing, apparent size and sharpness, not on luck - Variety pays: a cover full of different creatures sells better than ten of the same - Build a career issue by issue and chase the star rating - Short sessions - one night, start to front page No sign-up and no purchases. Just you, the fog, and a roll of film. Questions or bugs: [email protected]